So, what was the big deal, you say? All right, already; we’ll tell you all about it.
To begin with, we had to run like crazy to get to the boat on time. It was our own fault. To keep the story short – we had originally intended to go to the Islands next spring. But the costs were going up (natch), dramatically enough to get our attention. It would have been simplest, and cheapest, to go while we were still in Ecuador. But it wasn’t a good time of year – cold and choppy water; they pull the boat out of the water for maintenance. Next soonest time was end of September. So that’s what we decided on. But by then we would no longer be in Ecuador. Would the time we were allotting to get to Lima (the logical place from which to fly back to Ecuador) be enough to allow us to see northern Peru? Sure, of course, why not, who can say?.
Well, it wasn’t. We worked hard at it, trying to keep moving and seeing what we most liked and not skipping too much. We figured we needed to get to Lima on Wednesday so we could get some computer stuff done (and pack!) before we flew to Guayaquil, Ecuador on Friday morning. We weren’t flying to the Islands until Sunday morning, but the travel person said the flights were iffy and we needed an extra day to make sure we could catch the Guayaquil hop. It all happened, but we were whupped. And then, Sunday morning, we flew into the Galapagos Islands, and figured we could relax for a week. Welllll …. I’m not sure “relax” was what we did most of.
There are several ways to see the Islands, all with points in their favor. Many folks simply arrive, stay in a hostel, and make arrangements for day trips for as long as they can stay. But we had heard, and thought highly of, the idea of staying on board a boat for the duration of our visit.
On arrival, we were requested to take off our shoes; for the next week we were either barefoot or in socks, except when we went trekking on shore. After all the dunnage was aboard, we took off from the dock and then were immediately fed lunch. And then, after that, we were fed about every four hours, tons of food (which everyone snatched up and devoured like feeding time at the zoo), either regular meals or snacks in between. For a whole week. The cook was at it simply all the time! Always coffee and water and cold drinks available. And a bowl of candy. Life doesn’t get much better. Except, of course, for Rick. Now Rick is a special case. All of you who know him well are aware that he has food issues, lots of them. He lost some weight over the week. Kathy, who is an equal-opportunity forager, ate most of what Rick left on his plate.
The food was European in flavor and presentation. Why? I know you are dying to ask. With good reason. The owners of the boat are local, not European at all. The travel agency who booked our trip, and who does all the bookings for the Angelito, is in Quito, Ecuador; but, one of the owners is Italian and the other Swiss. That’s part of it. But more than that, most of the passengers usually are European. This seems to be because travelers talk to each other, and somehow this seems to be a boat the Europeans like. That was the only reason we could figure out.
Food aside, this international flavor added immeasurably to our experience. We were surrounded for a whole week by Swiss, Germans, Swedes, and Hollanders, with a stray Canadian and two Israelis thrown in for good measure. We had wonderful conversations with all of them, learned bunches of things about them and their countries, and made a whole slew of new friends. Everyone spoke English when we were part of the conversation, except the German couple, who only knew a few words; so we were included in the conversation as much as possible. Then, among themselves, the words would fly back and forth, usually in German, of which we could only pick up a smidgeon in passing. It was exhilarating! I will say, as a side comment, that it was awfully nice for us to be able to speak English for an entire week, and always be understood! We are really enjoying being in Latin America, but sometimes the desire is overwhelming to just babble away and really know the other person has gotten your point.
Another special moment was late one afternoon when we were making for our next island and we were joined by a group (pod?) of bottlenose dolphins. They swam beside us for a long time, jumping and diving and going under the bow of the boat. One jumped up almost high enough to land on the deck. Another afternoon some folks saw a whale, but not us.
Each day had a plan. Typically, we took two walks, morning and afternoon. In between, there was snorkeling. Now Rick and I aren’t snorkelers and the water is a bit cold in this season, so we tended to watch from above. So we missed some chances to play Lucca Brazzi (“Lucca Brazzi swims with the fishes”). But several of the folks had underwater cameras, and they were delighted to share their experiences. Sometimes they snorkeled from the boat, but often it was from a beach, and then we would troop ashore with them. Swimming in the surf was great; so was just sitting in the sand and enjoying the day.
The walks were organized to show us the features of a particular bay, or part of an island, or maybe the nesting place of a certain critter. They weren’t difficult, and the guide always left tons of time for pictures while he filled us in on what was important and/or interesting. By the end of the week, of course, he was commenting that it was against the law to take more than 50 pictures of any given bird, and that at the airport they would be checking to see how many filled memory chips we had with us and take away some if we had too many. Just kidding, of course; Diego was born in the islands and has been doing this for 29 years; he has the patience of Job.
One morning, Diego came up for breakfast wearing a futbol shirt. Didn’t think anything special at the time. But later, as we had a “wet landing” i.e., climbing out of the boat into the shallow water along the shore, we realized there were more locals around than usual. It was the weekly soccer match between crews of various boats. Our guys won one and lost one, while we snorkeled, swam, and poked around in the rocks. Now we knew why Diego was getting us going at an earlier hour than usual! Angelitos rule!
If you have any inklings of wanting to go to the Galapagos Islands, pick up the phone and make the call. You won’t regret it.
Rick and Kathy, buried in pictures.
Click here to view more of our Galapagos pictures